Week 8: The Week of Being a Chef at Rutgers University

Citrus Cilantro Watermelon Salad (+ avocado)

Our luncheon is in less than one day (see previous post about the luncheon)! On Monday, we showed up to Brower Commons to work with Chef Pete to do some additional prep for our luncheon. Many of the chefs were very helpful in the development of our menu items. Many of our main entrees, like the roast beef, chicken pomodoro, and shrimp scampi were assigned to multiple chefs to cook. As a result, we mostly only had to prepare the cold foods, such as the kale and watermelon salads. We started by making a mise en place for the Ratatouille. We diced up many vegetables, including asparagus, and called it a day.

Strawberry Frosting Cupcakes

Tuesday was our luncheon day!! We arrived to Brower’s at 7:30am this morning to finalize our luncheon! In the morning, we mostly worked with Vicki, who usually manages the salad station. She helped us make the Kale and Citrus Cilantro Watermelon Salad. We started by chopping the kale and watermelon into little pieces. We then cut the avocado into slices for the watermelon salad. On a side note, I still find the combination of avocado and watermelon very interesting. However, when we tasted it, the pair worked very well and the creaminess of the avocado added a nice touch to the sweetness of the watermelon.

When it time for our luncheon, Denisse and I changed into our Minnie Mouse and Russell (from Up) costumes, respectively, and were ready to showcase our luncheon. Overall, I’m very pleased with how it turned out and all the support we got from everyone who attended. (Click here for a more comprehensive blog of our luncheon!) I still can’t believe that the luncheon happened. We’ve been planning it for so long with so many different individuals that living in the moment at the luncheon was kind of surreal. I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to execute and produce this project though, and I’m not sure how I will top it in the future. This was such a great experience and I’m so thankful for everyone who helped us along the way (Peggy, Kelly, Sandy, Jenny, Rukiah, Chef Pete, Chef Todd, and others!).

On Tuesday, we spent the day with Sandy. Sandy is one of the managers at Brower’s, so we spent the morning in the faculty dining hall discussing some of the challenges that one might face on a day-to-day basis. One challenge was handling personnel issues within your staff. Many of these issues were petty; however, some of these little arguments could turn heated and disrupt usual dining operations. Therefore, we learned that it was important to stay calm and use your best judgment to approach the situation. I learned that as a manager, you really have to think on your feet, and be innovative, flexible, and patient. Dining is currently in the process of hiring new employees, so we got the opportunity to observe Sandy making a hiring call to one of the prospective employees. n the afternoon, Kelly and Peggy joined us for evaluations! We learned about our strengths and weaknesses, as delineated by the staff we worked with during these past two months. While I know that I still have some things to work and improve on, reading and hearing about another person’s perspective of me was very heart-warming and encouraging.

Kristin, Chef Todd, Chef Pete, and Denisse

Thursday was spent at Livingston Dining Commons. We were supposed to meet with Chef Bryan; however, since he wasn’t coming in until 10am (we arrived at 8am), we worked with some of the staff in the kitchen. We mainly worked in the cold kitchen, where we helped make pita, croissant, and sub sandwiches for a catering event in the afternoon. We also cut and washed bundles of grapes for the upcoming lunch service. Fran, one of the managers, also took us on a tour of the areas that Cynthia didn’t get to last time. We were able to go upstairs to see the faculty dining room. The parents that were part of the New Student Orientation were dining there today, so we got to see the setup.